


Kate

by love2imagine



Category: White Collar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 06:59:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5575750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love2imagine/pseuds/love2imagine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Warning: not my normal thing. </p><p>Ayam, probably don't read this! </p><p>Spoilers for Season 1, stays close to canon,  another possible story /motivations we were never told about!  </p><p>This is not the first of other chapters. This is a once-off. Probably for the best!</p><p>Characters and original story created by Jeff Eastin. This take mine, mistakes, mine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kate

 

 

 

 

She stood with her thin back to the rough, grimy, ugly wall…it made her feel a little more secure but, she acknowledged to herself, it was a horribly apt metaphor. The city lights shone from the road off to her left and down the dingy alley, fading as they neared, leaving the two of them in near-darkness. They caught the edge of the man’s cheek, his hair was a dark nothing. His suit…his eyes, flashing a sudden, eerie reflection…he scared her. That was his intention. And she knew he was enjoying it. She had been used, abused before. It gave her a kind of radar. She knew.

 

Sadly, though it warned her, it seemed to draw _Them._ She felt a sense of hopelessness. It was a usual state for her. Not exactly comfortable, but well-known.

 

“It’ll be worth your while. I’ll make sure it’s worth your while. You know what I can do to you…but I can also do things for you.”

 

She tried to speak. Her voice caught, and she had to clear her throat. She had tried at times, in similar situations, to appear strong, assertive. It had never worked. She saw the slight movement as his shoulders relaxed. He knew he had her, and she could do nothing.

 

His voice dropped, became soft, warm. “You are so beautiful. You aren’t designed to go it alone in the world. You’ve found it’s a harsh and unforgiving place, especially to the young and innocent.”

 

“I’ve survived!” she whispered, but it sounded pathetic, not decisive, not combative.

 

“Yes…barely. Don’t you want to stop running, stop struggling? A nice place to live, enough money, a warm bed at night?”

 

She smelt it then, and gave way. She looked down, saw an errant gleam on his shoes.

 

_Might have known._

“Come on. I don’t ask anything of you that you can’t do, haven’t done before and that totally safely! I’ll be there, making sure you’re safe. I keep my people safe. _My_ people.

         “Or do I hand in the evidence and you end up in a cold, hard prison, fighting for your life? And you know I know the right people… you’ll be there until that pretty skin fades, that allure you use so easily and take for granted is long gone. You think your life has been difficult so far? You can’t even imagine what I can do to you.”

 

He took a step back and waited. He was in no hurry. This was the second time he’d found her. Why he wanted _her,_ she didn’t know. He said the job was easy, but she was no criminal mastermind. Her jobs had all been small, insignificant. But she had been surviving on the streets for a decade; there were many petty crimes and somehow he seemed to know them all. But there must have been other people he could have used.

 

“If I do this for you…?”

 

She felt rather than saw the smug bastard smile.

 

He said encouragingly, “You stop having to run. You live comfortably; perhaps later, even luxuriously, who can tell. You do what I tell you to do, and everything will be taken care of. No more running and hiding. I can give you a good life.”

 

“Yes. You’ve said that. What do I have to do? And what do I get – exactly, I mean.”

 

He nodded at her attempt to take some measure of control and told her, “You’ll do precisely as I say. It will never be anything too dangerous.”

 

“What exactly do I have to do?” she repeated.

 

“You do what you’ve been doing. Only this time you’ll have me protecting you, guiding you, and you won’t have to steal or risk your pretty neck – or your freedom. Not ever again!”

 

She sighed. She didn’t believe him. But he was correct: she had no choice.

 

 

And so it was that Kate went to work for Vincent Adler. She wore lovely clothes, expensive make-up, and these things she enjoyed. She didn’t have to do much: Adler knew she wasn’t the brightest, but her looks and charm did wonders with clients. All she had to do in many cases was open up those sparking blue eyes and rich middle aged – and older – and some younger - men signed away fortunes, wanting to believe in the scheme, wanting to make her smile.

 

Adler gave her gifts and bonuses. He enjoyed having her adorn his offices. She lived in a large two bedroom apartment, a nicer home than she had ever had, though not in a very good part of the city, and sometimes had it all to herself. With the salary Adler gave her she could have afforded to move to a bigger, classier place, but he wouldn’t let her.

 

He met her there, sometimes. He would just come in, no warning, arrogantly throw the door open to prove that he owned her and this place. Here, in this private place he’d provided, he didn’t bother to keep up appearances. She told herself it was a small price to pay. She was for the first time living a life almost normal and pleasant: a roof that didn’t leak, acquaintances at work, enough to eat, even gifts of furs and jewellery - and most girls had to put up with that sort of attention.

 

She was finally told of her mark. He came to Adler’s, trying just a touch too hard and when she met him she was stunned. He was the most attractive man she’d ever seen. He seemed nice, kind. He was attracted to her, to her beauty, to her naïveté. He asked her no difficult questions. She had been told he wouldn’t. He didn’t want to invite those same difficult questions in return.

 

They created a fantasy. She kept him guessing, she flirted with other men. It was all part of the plan. She wished they could run away together, but the evidence against her was strong, and this kind, slight, sensitive boy was too young and too ignorant of the evils of the world to protect her. She didn’t love him. She appreciated his looks, his gentleness and thoughtfulness, but he didn’t attract her as a man. He was just too young in every way that mattered.

 

Then, to her shock, just as she was reeling in Neal Caffrey, as they developed what passes for trust in Kate’s world, Adler took the money and left them – and all the investors – in the lurch.

 

When she got a chance to get back to her apartment, he was there.

 

And he was furious.

The back of his hand caught her cheek and she was thrown backwards.

         “It wasn’t my fault,” she whimpered, holding her stinging jaw. “I didn’t know…he didn’t tell me…”

 

He stood, a large, solid black mass and then, with a swift motion that made her flinch, kneeled by her and put his hand over hers, covering her reddening face. “Of course not, Kate. I shouldn’t have done that. Come, let me look after you.”

 

She was pathetically grateful for the reprieve. He spoke softly and said things weren’t a total disaster, they might even work out better than he’d planned…but the sex that night was harsher, even more impersonal, his anger thrust into her like a knife. She lay afterwards, listening to him snore, and tears leaked silently down her face. Then she cuddled up to his bulk and fell asleep, loathing herself, but unable to hate him as he deserved.

 

It had always been easier to hate herself. The common… so _common_ … denominator.

 

 

 

Neal tried to look after her, believing that he was her only support, poor boy. He was like some prince charming from a story, perfect looks and chivalry. Pretty and perfect, but two dimensional. She didn’t allow him to see her amusement. She played along, pretending ingenuousness, asking for guidance.

 

They made gentle love. He was too good for her, she always felt that she was soiling him, spoiling him. She knew there was no hope for them. And, though she found this hard to accept, there was something missing from their joining. She wouldn’t let herself analyse what it was, for fear that her self-disgust would overwhelm her.

 

 

She was afraid he would be jealous, but it was worse. He knew it was a farce, he joked and jibed her about Neal, how pitiful were Caffrey’s efforts to please her. Like many victims and abusers, they knew each other.

 

 

But when Neal left, she saw the real force of his fury. He beat her then so that she couldn’t have pretended with Neal, he’d have seen the bruises, the welts, the stiffness. But Neal was gone. She _had_ said something foolish, but he didn’t know that. He just said she hadn’t done enough to keep Caffrey by her side.

 

He used her, kept her. Not just for sex, he told her he loved her, and that’s why he kept her, but she also did other work for him. She seemed too tired to get away…and he still had the evidence. She didn’t know where he kept it.

 

When she timidly mentioned it, pleaded that she’d done everything she could, he looked amazed. “You didn’t keep your end of the bargain. I wanted Caffrey, I wanted to use Caffrey to get Adler.

“You know how much Adler made off with? You think it’s cheap to keep you like this? It isn’t that easy to get funds! There’s always a risk, even for me!” She heard the anger start to build, and ran her hand up his back, inside his jacket, started undoing the buttons of his shirt, and he responded, kissing her hard.

 

She knew he had another woman. (At least one.) It was by chance she saw him with her. She hid, instinctively, but watched. They looked… normal. He’d said _her_ life would be normal, and in some ways it was, but the dark, unhealthy undertow of corruption that she straddled every day seemed missing from the couple she was following. Or the woman was a fool. Being fooled or fooling herself.

 

She gathered her courage and asked again why he was keeping her. He must have a wife, a girlfriend? Neal Caffrey and Vincent Adler were gone. What use was she? Wasn’t it a useless expense?

 

He laughed. She often thought she hated his laugh more than anything. It was that, or his soft, loving, lying look, she couldn’t decide.

 

“You have your uses, Kate. You’re beautiful. More beautiful than you know. And we fit together, you and I. Yes, I have had other women. I have one now. But she’s just for show. You and I – we’re real. I know what you like…and you give me what I need.

         “And Adler is missing, but he won’t be able to resist resurfacing. He loves the limelight. Men like that do. He’ll use up his money and that will be his excuse to re-enter the game. Hubris will bring him back and we’ll get him. He will gather more money. It’s what he does. I’ve always known he wants something really, really big – and I think it’s here. In the US.

         “And Caffrey – well, he might show. He was born here. He’s unlikely to get involved with Adler again, but he’s a natural parasite, finding the rich and famous. If he comes back, he may well be wanting his cute, innocent Kate.” He chuckled nastily, and she winced. “We can use him again, perhaps? Who knows? Grant you, I only wanted to get him to get my hands on Adler, with all his resources, but he’ll latch onto some other big fish. He has lots of talent, he’s proving that, but few real smarts.”

 

Kate wondered how he knew, and what Neal was doing that impressed him. “Not worth going after him, going to Europe, you said he went there?”

 

He huffed mockingly. “He’s not that valuable, and if you think I would risk taking you to some country and give you a chance to run…! Think again, my girl! I keep my people safe, remember?”

 

 

She followed him when she felt brave enough and found out a little about his ‘other women’. She was horrified to discover that she was jealous of this man who…owned her, who held severe physical punishment and incarceration over her like an axe. How evil, how damaged was she? She went through phases of depression, and planned suicide, alternating with imagining some miraculous way of getting back at him, at her father, at her mother who allowed it, who brought other boyfriends into her life (and her bed) after her father had died.

 

_Yet if I got rid of all that, who would I be? Would I even exist? Would there be anything left?_

Those were the darkest times.

 

 

 

Then he came to her, all fussed up with anticipation. Neal had come back and was looking for her!

 

“Kate! You did it! Caffrey’s back and there are rumours…Adler’s henchmen have been sniffing around. Some I know, some new ones. What’s the bet he knows Caffrey is back? What’s the chances of them showing up together? Perhaps they’ve been working together already, in other countries? Adler has a fondness for Neal Caffrey that I can’t understand! There’s something big here, Kate! I know it! I just _know_ it!”

 

Kate had felt a jump of excitement, thinking that Neal had come back for her…but no. _He’s working with Adler again._

“You need to stay off the streets as much as possible, disguise your looks when you go out. I want to control these interactions, Kate. I don’t want you running into either of them until the time is right, got it?”

 

She nodded. She obeyed. It was boring, lonely sometimes. She saw other girls with their friends on the streets when she was allowed out late at night to go shopping for essentials, laughing and talking and joshing each other. She wondered what that would be like. She had never had a support network. Neal and his strange friend Mozzie had been as close to that as she had experienced.

 

_And I chased Neal away…_

Eventually, he set her up, leaked her position to Neal’s associates on the street. She had a few precious moments with Neal…he kissed her. He may not be her dream man, but oh, how sweet that loving kiss tasted to Kate…

 

Then the FBI broke in on them, grabbed Neal from the warmth of her arms and dragged him away, and all the while he was looking back at her. Kate had to watch him go, her heart thumping, fearful that they knew of her past, that they’d turn on her…but no. At least her owner had that much pull.

 

Kate, shaking and appalled, went home, terrified of what he would say…that he would blame her. But he was _pleased_ and he let her know it, took her to bed and spent time cuddling her and when she dared to ask about it, just said that it would work out in the end, and that he really wanted Adler, after all. She wondered for a moment if he’d done this to revenge himself on Neal, on Neal’s loyalty to her.

 

“Caffrey is small fry, Kate! And don’t you bother your pretty head…I’m playing a long and complicated game. Adler doesn’t rush things, you know that. It is likely to be years before he’s got his hands on his next big score and I can take it from him…” he smiled, nastily. “He’ll regret getting away from me last time! I will take him down! One way or another.” She shuddered.

         “Cold, Kate?” He covered her gently. At times like these, she could almost imagine he cared for her. She made the most of them, and didn’t ask any more questions.

 

 

He had her visit Neal every week. That was hard. Every time she feared she would be accosted by some form of law enforcement. He couldn’t buy everyone, after all. And seeing Neal like that, after the dreams and plans they’d made, however childish and foolish and hopeless…and it didn’t end! It went on, on and on for _years_ …! The falsehood, the betrayal of this young man was a permanent taste of bile in the back of her throat. He believed that she loved him – why wouldn’t he? There was no other reason, in his imagination, that she would continue to visit him week after week.

 

He gave her things to give Neal…information on odd things. Parking service at the airport, a new tracking anklet the CIA had developed, told her to encode the information for a company that supplied uniforms, and a credit card number, with all the relevant information. It had been his idea to start the code, he knew Neal was clever enough to catch on, romantic enough to delight in it!

 

She also took a tape-player and several cassette tapes.

 

She didn’t ask questions. She even ceased to care. He enjoyed it when she queried. It showed his power over her, that he could give or withhold even information.

But she did hide most of Neal’s letters, even after Neal changed the code to a more secure one. It seemed like one small area that was hers. Hers and Neal’s, perhaps.

 

 

 

When she was told after her weekly visit that the next one would be the last, that she would tell Neal she wasn’t coming again, she finally rebelled. Instantly, his face twisted, he snarled, almost growled, his whole energy switched from his normal-seeming persona to some sort of demon. His eyes darkened with fury, they terrified her! She cowered, but he’d seen her bid for freedom. And that had to be punished.

 

As she lay sobbing and trembling afterwards, she realised he’d told her then so she would have a chance to heal before she saw Neal again. It was all calculated.

 

She daren’t disobey him. He still had the original evidence that could put her away, and had added to it over the years: all the work she’d done for him. His hands were clean.

 

When the time came, she was cold and heartless, despite Neal’s shock and pitiful, despairing grief. She didn’t shed a tear, even as she left the only man who’d ever been truly kind to her.

 

“I’ll make sure you never see him again,” he said, rubbing his unyielding thumb across her jaw where make-up hid a lingering bruise, making her wince. He said it like a caress.

 

“I don’t want to ever see him again!” she said, twisting away, and he laughed at her.

 

“You know what will happen to you if you do, Kate!”

 

 

He sent her away, told her to ‘take a vacation’, he wouldn’t need her for a while.

 

“But don’t think I won’t be keeping tabs on you, Kate. Don’t think of running or hiding. You aren’t clever enough for me, remember. I’ll find you, I always do, and you won’t like that, will you? I’ll get word to you when I need you again.”

 

She packed and left, and followed his detailed laid-out plan for her, staying at cheap motels he’d booked for her, going on little outings, walking along a windy beach, trying not to let anyone see that she was hollowed out, a husk. Dead woman walking.

 

She considered suicide again, but it now seemed too much trouble, as though she truly was already dead, already nothing, a robot, a wraith.

 

_If I’ve ever been anything else…_

 

 

 

As suddenly as she had been banished, she was recalled. He was ecstatic,

demanding, impatient.

         “I know where Vincent Adler is! He’s trying to get hold of Caffrey – we’re going to give him _you!_

“Here!”

 

She bit off the question about how was Adler going to get Neal out of prison – _Of course, his sentence would be up by now, wouldn’t it?_

 

He had a small wardrobe of up-market clothing, quality cut and fabric, all in her size. She shuddered a little, but when he took her in his arms, she melted with pleasure at being wanted, needed, despite herself. Again she tasted bile.

 

 

He cast her here and there where Adler had been seen, like a fly on a trout stream, till one day that warm, accented voice sounded behind her, amused as Adler often seemed to be at life.

 

She acted out her part: pleased to see him, glad to connect again with the man who could give her a good life. His eyes narrowed, but he knew Kate. He knew she wasn’t conniving. He knew she couldn’t run a long con on anyone, let alone him, and if she tried he could kill her, no loss. So he took her to dinner and then, three days later, to a Broadway show, a movie after that. She was amazed that no-one recognised him, but it was years since his photo had graced the papers. People saw, she knew, what they expected to see: no-one supposed a most-wanted criminal would be casually carrying popcorn for a pretty woman. That was what normal human’s did, not evil criminals with no feelings and no hearts, no life outside of destroying others! Especially if they should be in Rio or the Bahamas.

 

She enjoyed her times with Adler, despite the mutual fraud. He was suave and had perfect manners and he treated her with utmost courtesy and respect. “Call me Vincent, Kate. We’ve known each other for long enough! I think you might be able to help me.”

 

He explained and she wondered how many times she’d be used to catch poor, stupid Neal!

 

_He’s always the big, shiny fish. I’m always the worm._

 

 

 

He told her to avoid seeing Adler too often, to tell him she had ‘other things to do’, to keep him guessing. He was revelling in the way his plans were coming to fruition. He saw the chessboard laid out, each move working to his benefit, his white queen dancing, drawing each black piece in close for their imminent destruction. His libido fed on the excitement and pending success. They spent a great deal of time in bed when he was there with her. He took satisfaction in overpowering her.

 

Months went by, and he grew more pleased with himself. He kept her more cloistered than ever, other than spending time with Adler, who treated her politely, but rather as an ornament on his wrist, and told her he was getting close to finding Caffrey – _You were close once, weren’t you?_

 

He became even more cautious, went to the length of taking her with him if he was forced to leave the city. He hardly let her out of his sight, other than letting her go out with Adler now and then.

 

 

 

One day, as he was dressing after their ‘lunch’ together, he took a photo out of his wallet.

 

“That’s the woman whom I show to the world, Kate. The sunshine to your darkness.” He breathed deeply, as though of mountain air, relishing his life. “I hold all the cards – Neal is mine, you are mine. She’s mine. I’m _this_ far from getting Adler.”

 

She glanced up, saw the gleam of wanton cruelty in his eyes, and steeled herself. She took up the photo and looked at it, maintaining her calm demeanour. She wasn’t going to add to his pleasure more than necessary.

 

“Hmm…blue eyes and dark hair. Like me. Like Neal. You do have a type, don’t you?”

 

“Perhaps!” he laughed. “I hadn’t seen that!

_____“But I chose _you_ because you look like his mother looked. She also seemed helpless. It’s an easy weakness to exploit.”

 

“Did you ever love any of us? Care at all?”

 

He shrugged. “You still have to ask that?”

 

“No.”

 

 

 

The next time she saw Vincent Adler, he told her that Neal Caffrey had made a deal with him to give him something of unimaginable value, and in return, he would give Neal and her their freedom, together.

 

“That boy has held a flame for you all these years, Kate. It would be almost enchanting, if it wasn’t nauseating! Sir Galahad and the Grail! I’m sorry, my dear, but what he has is far more useful to me than you are, and you are all he’ll take in exchange – you and the Cote d’Azur, with all the papers and freedom and a measure of wealth to get you both started.

________“He dreams small dreams. I thought better of him. He was never worthy to be my junior partner. Pity! Better to learn it now, though, you must agree.”

 

Kate’s eyes stung with tears. She looked at Adler and knew. She just knew. She had a radar. But, she told herself, at least she had a chance. And Neal was sweet. Just perhaps…perhaps there was a chance, with him, for them, even for them together…?

 

Adler’s men got her on the plane. She was glad when they left. Adler had class and style, even if his heart was black. But these men…especially the one arrogant, horrible man. He made her shudder. She would be quite content never to see any of them again. Perhaps she was about to get her wish?

 

She watched Neal appear, and when he saw her it was as though he looked into paradise: he became alight with joy. Her heart softened as he waved. Someone – even if it was just Neal – did truly love her, was prepared to give up anything for her.

And then _he_ came – to take her, or Neal, or more likely both of them. His valuable chess pieces, recaptured. Neal had bought her from Adler, but Adler had never held her ownership papers. Petrified, she saw the slim chance at happiness about to unravel! She felt like a bird, nearly free, being dragged back inexorably into the cage…and in desperation she phoned Adler. He was the only one who might help, though he had nothing to gain and she knew that.

 

 

 

Adler didn’t, couldn’t, save Neal. Perhaps he didn’t want to, having just heard that, after all his hard work, Burke had taken the music box from Fowler.

 

But, to give him his due, he did what was necessary to save Kate.

 

 

 

 

 

The End

 


End file.
